Zamizdat, Dance, and White Nights

About a month ago I hunted up a DVD at my local library. They didn't have it, but they were able to borrow it from another branch.

I love libraries, by the way.

Anyway, the the movie was 'White Nights', and I had checked it out because of the dancing. The Bear Cub is a dancer, and had not seen it. I take the opportunities I find to introduce her to dance that she may not have seen. Her preference is Hip Hop, but she enjoys all forms. For myself, I believe the statement that 70's song 'Teach the Children Well' is a good guideline: feed [the Bear Cub] on my dreams and see what she picks.

My many dreams include acting, singing, movement (I tend more to Mime than dance), and the sciences.

An odd mix, I'll admit.

The Bear Cub early on showed herself to be a dancer. Always on her toes, seldom did her heels touch the floor when she was a young child. She enjoyed singing and always being the drama queen. But her first love is dance.

Which brings me to 'White Nights'. The dancing is outstanding, and all too brief. 

The Bear Cub was impressed.

Then there was the story. Without giving anything away (I try to avoid spoilers) the story is about a Russian ballet dancer who defected, was on his way from one dance engagement to the next when the aircraft had an in-flight emergency and had to make a landing in an 'any port in a storm' fashion. That landing was in the Soviet Union, and at a Soviet military airfield. 

Defector reclaimed.

The rest of the movie revolves around him trying to find a way back out of the Soviet Union. See the movie.

Mikhail Baryshnikov plays the role of the dancer, and since he is indeed a Soviet defector and a ballet dancer, this could be considered type-casting. His foil in this story is an American defector, a tap dancer, played by the late Gregory Hines (outstanding in the role).

In accordance to the Law of  Unintended Consequences, what started as showing the Bear Cub some dance ended up reminding me of just how much freedom we have in this country, and how this is being curtailed in the name of security and safety. Even the notion of Free Speech is being infringed in inconceivable ways, making any notion counter to the notion espoused by the mainstream media has to take to alternate methods, almost to the point of becoming American Zamizdat. 

Zamizdat was underground news, opinions, and music, and all things unapproved by the Politburo, passed along by underground means. This goes without saying that it was fought against, by fair means or foul, by the State. 

Is that what we are coming to? I would say: YES!

The Internet, once the great equalizer has become a force of censorship. But it is NOT the government doing the censoring. In the name of 'Political Correctness', posts are being taken down from social media pages, lest they offend someone's sensibilities. Blogs are taken down for the same reason. News is becoming one-sided and editorials pretend to be news stories. And people (those 'wrong-headed'ones) are being banned and muzzled, including a former President. 

To these Arbiters of Thought, it is not enough to simply disagree with these people of differing opinions, These People Must Be SILENCED! They must be silenced for the good of all 'right-thinking' people, the ones who feel unsafe the moment a conflicting thought is seen or heard, the ones who are afraid to think for themselves. And if the counter-culturalists won't be silenced, then they must be destroyed! The force of identity politics is brought to bear.

If an idea cannot stand up to a conflicting thought, then that idea is poorly thought out. If you must resort to such unfair methods to silence your opposition, you are a tyrant.

Don't be a tyrant.

Instead, we must follow Voltaire's example: 

"I may disagree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it!"

The solution to so-called bad speech is more speech. Put one thought up against the other in the marketplace of ideas and let the ideas duke it out. Fight fair, and may the best idea win!

If you must resort to censorship to protect your idea, then that idea is a poor idea. And don't pull out that chestnut: 'It's not the government so it can't be censorship' line. It doesn't matter who gags you to prevent your ideas from being expressed, it is censorship. If you are coerced into self-censorship, afraid what your peers may think and say, that is censorship. If a government prevents the free assembly of your group to petition our government for redress of grievances, calling that group 'Insurrectionists', that is censorship, . 

If a person or group in charge of providing connectivity and voices to those who have something to say (such as you), decide that some things may not be said, ESPECIALLY on the basis of what that speech is, they are guilty of censorship, just as surely as if they broke into your newspaper's office and destroyed your presses.

Whatever is done to 'unlevel' the playing field, that is censorship, no matter how blatant or subtle.

The movie White Nights wasn't about Dance. It was about the one place in the world that a person could pursue their own path, to be free to choose that path, win or lose, to succeed or fail. Nothing guaranteed, except to have their own expression presented in the arena of ideas. Dance or Diatribe, Song or Polemic, to be able to bring an idea to life, whether it is a building or a statue, or a machine to help complete a task (think bulldozers, welders, even autonomous robots, all helping to build), or to create a new way of healing. Or anything else.

Think of ideas that enable governments, our government in particular, to protect these freedoms. Think of a government that gets out of the way of people 'taking care of business'. Think of the productivity of these people. Think of the freedom to be yourself.

It all comes down to Freedom. Freedom to speak. Freedom to act. Freedom to live unencumbered by unnecessary rules. 

Is the United States of America perfect? No. But nothing is.

Does this country come closest to the ideal of freedom for all? YES. Are we perfectly there yet? No.

 Are we as a nation collectively moving in that direction? I believe we are. But there are some pushing in the opposite direction, disingenuously waving the flag of 'freedom'.

I'm reminded of ants on an anthill: two ants may find something that needs to be moved and they each attach themselves to it. They may head the same direction. Or they may have a tug of war trying to move that item. They each have what they think is the best idea on what to do. And in the end that pebble or morsel of food arrives at its (in the ants' opinion) proper destination. Sometimes it is the wrong destination. Somehow the ants get it sorted out.

We are more than ants. We should not, we CANNOT muzzle one another lest we miss the best ideas. We must not let some ideas become only available as Zamizdat. ALL ideas should be heard, and heard openly. 

That is how we find the best thoughts, the best ideas, by hearing them, letting them be tested in the crucible of true public opinion, not the stuff the talking heads give us.

We must all fight for freedom, beginning with the freedom of voice, the freedom of not being muzzled.

Yes, You Can!

Yes, We MUST!

E Pluribus Unum!

Let's see if THIS blog stays up!

The Devil is in the Details

Most of us want to do ‘better’, to be ‘better’, to be our ‘best’ at something. But ‘better’ is a vague notion. Most of us will not get better without help, without discipline, without a will and a drive to improve. Some of us, all we need is a direction to go, and we will march forever. Others need a schedule and a calendar, not to mention a map. Yet others need a drill instructor, driving us onward. And all of us need one more thing:

A yardstick.

In the wild, individual members of a species have a biological imperative to succeed; they have a goal hard-wired into their biology and structure that they cannot escape, and a method they can only adjust, not defeat. This programming may be ‘sufficient unto the day’ as the individual carries through its life, or it may not be. If it is, then it may pass along its successful programming to the next generation. Such is called Natural Selection.

If the species is Man, what is Nature selecting for now?

That may be a bit unfair, as we are causing changes to our world perhaps faster than we can keep up.
On the other hand, ours is a unique species, in that our biologic imperative to succeed is somewhat subject to that knob of gray matter in our skull. For good or ill, our major powers are subject to the decisions created in our frontal cortex. That, which can be programmed to direct our energies in particular directions or no useful directions at all, can make us. Or break us.

When I started writing Yes, you can!, I wrote with the idea of reprogramming that knob of matter. It is hard, harder than I thought. Patterns, once entrenched, do not easily admit change. The very act of writing the book, a story a week, became much stretched. I am one of those that needs regimentation, and I have trouble enforcing on myself. Perhaps, you, too.

I have yet a far way to go, the need to ignore distractions, and the desire to find that passion that would drive me onward of its accord. That last may never happen. Until it does, or until my story ends, I will fight onward to find the ‘it’ I’m supposed to do. Meanwhile, among other things, I will continue to write.

It ain’t necessarily a living. But it is a life. I am going to do my best to live it.

So can you.

Yes, you can!

He Musta Got Better

Robert Milne died June 5th 2005, at age 49.
That is not an extraordinary fact. Many people die at that age.
How and where he died is the extraordinary part: at an altitude of approximately 8850 meters during a final push to reach the summit of Mt. Everest.
When I knew Mr. Milne (we attended the same high school) he struck me a something of a nerd. 

That's ok. He was focused on a goal: to study computer science. He had a love of mountain climbing. The two came together when he was field testing a telemetry device in the most remote locations: mountaintops. He had, prior to this trip, already summited the highest peaks of the other six continents and had just this one remaining. He didn't quite make it.
You can't really say that he failed in his quest, though. He went where his vision led him and I presume died with few, if any, regrets. Having more than my share of regrets, I envy him that.
Harry Chapin (singer-songwriter, wrote Taxi, Cat's in the Cradle, 30,000 lbs of Bananas) wrote a bit of advice given to him by his grandfather. In the interest of NOT infringing on copy-rights, I point you to a link on Amazon.com: My Grandfather .

Do your best to fight your own fights, as much as you can, and the fights you care about. Fighting somebody else's fights may be necessary in the course of your life (and, of course, do your best with those, too).

But, do not neglect your own battles, your own goals, your own dreams.

Yes, You Can.

The Madman

An Interesting Thought.

(originally written 7 feb 2009)

If you’ve never read the book: Ben-Hur, I commend to you to do so. The movie Ben-Hur is good (an understatement) but of necessity leaves out much important information. If you don’t wish to purchase a copy, by all means download a plain-vanilla copy from Project Gutenberg (www.gutenberg.org). That’s where I got my copy. I’m not done reading it, yet. But I noticed something in the Fifth Book, where the protagonist comes into a considerable sum of wealth. His steward informs that with such wealth, Judah Ben-Hur could do anything. But he suggests one particular thing: the Messiah is deemed to be poor, though a king; would it not be good for Judah to use his wealth and training to provide the army the Messiah would undoubtedly need?

That they have it wrong is part of the story; I bid you read it for the details. As a historical drama, it is every bit as thrilling as the latest Tom Clancy.

But think: we need not have great wealth to place in our Lord’s service, nor great skills. We only need to be willing to place what we have in His hands, to do with them as He bids us.

What do you have? What can you do?

You can give and do your best.

Yes, you can!

Forever Family

There is,of course, more than can ever be commented about. But here is one thing that is high on most people's list: Family.

And for those young ones who are missing a family, finding, and gaining acceptance in, a new family is high on the priority list.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lOeQUwdAjE0

The following story is going out to one such family, but I thought I'd share it with you folks here as well.

Critters of Habit

Forever Family

George Bear was elbow-deep in the stack of monthly bills when his youngest cub, LizaBeth, put her small paw on his much bigger paw.

"Papa?"

"Yes, Li'l Bit?"

"What's a 'Forever Family'?"

"What do you mean?"

"There's this girl in class, Tanya, who was talking about her special day. The day she met her 'Forever Family'. She was all excited about it."

"Ah, you mean Tanya Sparrow?"

"Yes, Papa."

"Well, it's kind of complicated. But it's simple, too, when you get down to the basics of it. Are you ready for a story?"

"Is it a Dragon story, Papa?"

"No, it's a real story. The names might be different, but it happened, for real."

"Is it long?"

(smiling) "I'll try to keep it short. It's about a cub very much like you, maybe a little smaller, but she had the same eyes you do ..."

She had a mama and papa, like you do, but life didn't work out for them the way it should have, and the little girl found herself alone.

"That's sad, Papa."

"Very sad, Li'l Bit."

"I bet she cried."

"I'm sure she did. I'm sure she was very lonely and scared."

"I'd be scared, too, Papa."

"Me too, Li'l Bit."

"What happened to her?"

"Well. This cub ended up, for a time, being taken care of by this family and then by that family. And, while she was cared for and loved, she never seemed to end up in a place that didn't eventually - well the phrase we sometimes use is: 'work out'. Things didn't work out for the little cub, and she never got to stay for very long in a place that she could call home with a family that loved her.

Then she met a family that said: 'We'll make a place for you, here, forever.' …”

"Papa?"

"Yes?"

Worry drifted over LizaBeth’s face, "Do I have a 'Forever Family'?"

George took his cub and gently wrapped his huge arms around her.

"You sure do, Li'l Bit. We're your Forever Family, me, Mama Bear, JR, Aunt Cindy, Uncle Larry, Uncle Barney, ... the whole Bear Clan. You're our Li'l Bit, and we're yours forever. You're stuck with us," he said, and growled, "And don't you forget it!"

Li'l Bit giggled, "I won’t, Papa!"

"This cub didn’t want to make friends with this new family. If she did have to leave, like before, with her belongings stuffed in a sack, it would hurt ‘way too much. It took a long while for the girl to trust and believe that this new family meant it when they said 'Forever'. It seemed like the better part of forever before she did believe.

"But, she had a mama and a papa who helped her, and kept loving her, and a brother who called her 'Sister'. He even got into fights with the neighborhood bullies when they were mean to her.

"Eventually, she got the message, and she began to settle in and get comfortable. She smiled more. She even whispered some of her darkest secrets to her new Mama.

"One day, a very special day, the family went to the courthouse. The Judge asked everyone a great many questions. Finally he was satisfied that the people in the girl's home meant what they said when they said 'Forever'. Even the little girl believed it (which was the most important part).

"The judge banged his gavel – "

"What's a 'gabel'?"

"That's 'gavel', and it's something like a hammer or mallet, but not quite. Now hush a moment, this is the best, the most important part. As I was saying,"

The judged banged his gavel, but before he did, he said: 'Little Girl, this is now your family, forever. This matter is adjourned.'

Bang! went his gavel, and everyone was smiling. Especially the little girl. She knew, somehow, that she had a family again. She still wasn't quite sure what that meant, but she knew, at least, that she had not only a bed to sleep in, and food to eat, but people who would love her, forever.

"Oh. She must have been happy, Papa."

"She still is. And, even though there have been rough times - every family has 'em, don't you know? - the love that grew was strong enough to get them through those rough times. And all because one family said: 'We'll be your Forever Family,' and meant it."

"If Tanya’s new family is like that, she must be really lucky, Papa."

"Li'l Bit, there is no such thing as luck. What we call 'luck' is the Hand of God, moving where we can't see it. There is nothing that happens that He doesn't have a hand in.

"Now, then, my li’l cubchild, it's time for bed."

"Aww, Papa!"

"Don't you 'Aww, Papa' me. Git along, now!" George said gruffly, but with a twinkle in his eye.

George was turning back to the stack of bills, when he felt a gentle paw on his shoulder. "You told that story like you were there."

George looked up to see Ethel looking down, her eyes shining.  He said, "Well, I was, for some of it. I remember teasing you when we were cubs. I was kind of mean."

Ethel gave his shoulder a squeeze, "And I remember the thumping you got from my brother, Barney, when he heard you calling me 'Nobody's Cub'. And I remember him telling you, in no uncertain terms, that 'She was so, "Somebody's Cub", she's my SISTER!' And then he gave you one last thump, so's you would remember it."

"Yeah, he hits hard, when he’s riled up. And you sure grew up to be 'Somebody'."

George patted the paw on his shoulder, and looked up at his wife, "We sure do have some wonderful stories, don't we?"

Ethel merely smiled back.

Folks, there are many kids out there that need a 'Forever Family'. If you have the willingness and strength to be a special 'Forever Family' to a special kid, please, by all means do so. The results are world-changing, for the child, but also for you.

Yes, You CAN

What Do You Say When You Don't Have Anything To Say?

Garrison Keillor described it as 'The ability to say things while you're thinking of something to say."

Some people do this better than I do, Mr. Keillor, notably.

I was going to write about personal tragedies, but certain folk would prefer that
I don't share 'family business' ( I suppose even saying that much is saying 'too much'). So, let me just say that it's been a tough couple of years, and let it go at that.

Now that that is done, how are all of you folks? Keeping on? Still keeping the New Years' Resolutions?

I have only one this year: 

"Survive" 

That one will be tough enough, I expect. If that word is a contract, then there are a lot of subordinate clauses that will need to be met as well.

Like:

'Stay healthy'
'Make more money'
'Have more fun'
'Keep loving the family'

And:

"Non Illegitimi Carborundum"*

And, if I can, you can, too.

Yes, You Can!


* You'd best 'Google' it